Macroalgal richness increased from 8 to 13 genera per site. Both
abundances and the generic richness of Rhodophyta,
and abundances of Chlorophyta strongly increased with
increasing WQI (Fig. 5). Abundances and richness of
Phaeophyta, and richness of Chlorophyta, were unre-
lated to WQI. Hard coral cover and richness and octo-
coral cover, all of which varied strongly between the
regions, were unrelated to WQI (
Fig. 4
). In contrast,
four hard coral families (Agariciidae,Mussidae,Pocillo-
poridae and Faviidae) were strongly negatively related
to water quality (
Fig. 6
). Similarly, octocoral richness
was strongly negatively related to WQI. Within WT,